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<\/a><\/p>\nSo, in 2014, China accepted the universal suffrage thing, but there was a twist.<\/i><\/b> They said, \u201cAll of y\u2019all can vote, but the candidates you vote for, will be chosen by<\/i><\/b> a committee(China decides who\u2019s part of the committee).\u201d So everyone can vote,<\/i><\/b> but the candidates would be virtually decided by China.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Pro-democracy advocates were furious and took to the streets in what would become<\/span> the 2014 Umbrella Revolution<\/span>.(vvvvvv imp revolution)<\/span><\/p>\nHow\/why did the protests start?<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
The pro-democracy uprising that has rocked Hong Kong for the past several months<\/span> began as a protest against proposed amendments <\/span>to Hong Kong\u2019s extradition law<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBasically, the law said that any Hong Kong citizen could be extradited to any other<\/span> country, if they violated any laws of that particular country.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNotably, that would include mainland China, a country that <\/span>arbitrarily imprisons its<\/span> citizens<\/span> if they displease the government.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nCritics worried that China would take advantage of this law to arbitrarily detain<\/i><\/b> Hongkongers \u2014 such as those who openly dissent against the Chinese<\/i><\/b> government or advocate for human rights<\/i><\/b>. One pro-democracy lawmaker called it a<\/span> \u201cdragnet over all of Hong Kong.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe amendments would <\/i><\/b>apply retroactively<\/i><\/b>, meaning thousands of people who<\/i><\/b> may have angered mainland China with a supposed past crime could be at risk of<\/i><\/b> facing trial there.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
The extradition rule changes were particularly fraught because China is accused of<\/span> kidnapping people from outside its borders \u2014 <\/span>including from Hong Kong<\/span>, where it isn\u2019t<\/span> supposed to have jurisdiction \u2014 <\/span>and essentially disappearing them to China<\/span>. That<\/span> would normally violate international law. But this bill would give China <\/span>legal cover to do<\/span> so<\/span>.(Basically super draconian shitttttt.)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0On June 9, <\/span>as many as a million people in Hong Kong peacefully protested <\/span>against the<\/span> bill as Lam prepared to push it through Hong Kong\u2019s legislature.<\/span><\/p>\nLike 1\/5th of the country was on the streets, super historic shitttttt.(they stormed the<\/span> legislature and all that stuff, kaafi amazing revolution)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nPolice fired rubber bullets and all, things got more violent, people were arrested, and<\/span> this increased the divide.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nProtests went on in full flow, there was no stopping.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe impasse between protesters and the Hong Kong government looked<\/i><\/b> unshakeable. But then, on September 4, Lam <\/i><\/b>announced<\/i><\/b> that \u2014 after weeks and<\/i><\/b> weeks of sustained demonstrations \u2014 the government would formally withdraw<\/i><\/b> the extradition bill.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
And yet, protesters largely responded: <\/span>\u201ctoo little, too late.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOver the weeks of protests, demonstrators began to see the Hong Kong government\u2019s<\/span> refusal to budge as the prime example of why universal suffrage \u2014 selecting their own<\/span> leaders \u2014 was paramount if they wanted to preserve Hong Kong\u2019s unique status.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd so the protests continued, some taking on an increasingly violent tenor.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn early October, the Hong Kong government <\/i><\/b>tried to ban face masks<\/i><\/b>,<\/i><\/b> which<\/i><\/b> p<\/i><\/b>rotesters wore to hide their identities and to protect themselves from tear gas.<\/i><\/b> Protesters defied the ban (<\/span>w<\/span>hich was later deemed unlawful<\/span>). But it was a sign of just<\/span> how deeply relations between authorities and the demonstrators had broken down.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNovember was a particularly bloody month. A protester <\/span>was shot by police<\/span>, and a man,<\/span> believed to be a Beijing supporter, was set on fire.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n(Story continues)<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
The HK people came up with 5 demands:<\/span><\/p>\n1) Scrap the laws(already done)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n2) Don\u2019t use the words, \u201criot\u201d to classify protests.(Rioters face 10 years in jail)<\/span> 3) Release all protestors(4500 approximately) and drop all charges<\/span> 4) Independent enquiry into police actions.(violence)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n5) Give them actual suffrage, where they can elect their own leaders.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHong Kong\u2019s local district council elections on November 24<\/span>: <\/span>A historic 71 percent of<\/i><\/b> voters turned out to vote, and pro-democracy candidates took majorities in 17 of<\/i><\/b> the 18 district <\/i><\/b>councils, flipping hundreds of seats that had been previously held by<\/span> pro-Beijing candidates. (remember, local district councils elections, not the national one)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe results sent a strong message to the Hong Kong authorities \u2014 and to China.<\/span> WHAT EXPLAINS CHINA\u2019s STANCE?<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\nC<\/b>hina has taken an increasingly hard line against Hong Kong\u2019s protests because it sees<\/span> them as a threat to its growing influence in the territory.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAfter 1997, China mostly respected Hong Kong\u2019s autonomy because Hong Kong<\/span> contributed <\/span>t<\/span>remendously to China\u2019s economy <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>about 27 percent of its GDP in the<\/i><\/b> 1990s, and it is only about 3 percent today. <\/i><\/b>China is eager to invest in the mainland<\/span> now, so Hong Kong has lost a bit of its shield to Beijing\u2019s influence.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSo China has tried to bring Hong Kong closer and closer into its orbit. It wants Hong<\/span> Kong to embrace the country\u2019s ruling Communist Party and not care so much about<\/span> those pesky freedoms Hong Kong citizens love so much. It wants Hong Kong <\/span>t<\/span>o speak<\/span> mainland China\u2019s official language, Mandarin<\/span>, instead of Cantonese.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSO WHAT DOES XI DO NEXT? THE NATIONAL SECURITY LAW(BOOM!)<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Protests over an extradition law turned violent and evolved into a broader anti-China<\/span> and pro-democracy movement.<\/span><\/p>\nChina doesn’t want to see that happen again.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe law criminalises any act of:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n- secession – breaking away from the country<\/span><\/li>\n
- subversion – undermining the power or authority of the central government<\/span> \u25cf terrorism – using violence or intimidation against people<\/span><\/li>\n
- collusion with foreign or external forces<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Why are Hong Kong people worried?<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
It gives Beijing powers to shape life in Hong Kong it has never had before. Critics<\/i><\/b> say it effectively curtails protest and freedom of speech – China has said it will<\/i><\/b>